Dear Yonkers Times,
I’m a person of faith who feels called to care for people and steward the earth.
I urge you to report on NY bill A8866/S8357, which would bans fracking for natural gas using carbon dioxide (CO2).
The legislature passed this bill on a bipartisan basis in response to a gas industry proposal to skirt our state’s fracking ban by using CO2 instead of water. The bill now awaits the governor’s signature.
Most impacts associated with fracking occur whether water or CO2 is used. The NY departments of Environment Conservation and Health concluded in 2014 that fracking poses significant risks to people’s health, air quality, drinking water, and the environment and it was banned.
High pressure CO2 is dangerous, and ruptured pipelines can result in asphyxiation and convulsions. This was tragically illustrated in Satartia, Mississippi in 2020 when a CO2 pipeline exploded, leaving 45 people hospitalized. High pressure CO2 injection underground poses risk of earthquakes, corrosion of well casings, and groundwater acidification.
Thank you for covering this important issue.
Sincerely, Judith Zingher, Elmsford, New York
